The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Nov. 16, 2004
Filed:
Jun. 08, 2001
Holger Claus, Lake Forest, CA (US);
Randal S. Kincade, Irvine, CA (US);
Steven Osowski, Wildomar, CA (US);
Ushio America, Inc., Cypress, CA (US);
Abstract
The present invention is a hybrid sealing technique. According to one or more embodiments of the present invention, an unsealed lamp body is heated and a partial pinch seal is performed on a first side of the lamp body at an outer junction area. Then, a shrink seal is applied which completes the sealing process at the first side of the lamp body by sealing an inner junction area on the same side of the lamp body. The present invention retains the benefits of the shrink seal, but alleviates the difficulty associated with holding the electrode assemblies in place when performing a traditional shrink seal. In addition, the machine which holds the electrode assemblies in place is greatly simplified.